Conquest: The Guardians of Childhood
by The-Rose-Chronicles
Summary: The Rose Clan is out to conquer the world that is watched over by the Guardians of Childhood while Zeta procures one, or maybe even two, allies.
1. Chapter 1

"Don't fight the fear, little man!" Pitch yelled, pain flashing through his body as he felt the darkness engulfing him. Then everything changed and all there was, as far as he could see, was darkness. It was all there was and all there ever would be. Then there was pain again, horrible agony like nothing he'd ever felt, agony more intense than when he'd been shot by Pitch's arrow, and laughter. The echoing, mocking, haunting laughter. He tried to cover his ears but it did nothing to stifle the sound, tried to scream but nothing came out, he closed his eyes and hoped against hope that it would all end. The laughing grew louder and louder, rising until it was deafeningly loud, and then there was suddenly silence and the pain stopped. Tentative eyes opened and before him flashed from the darkness a pair of glowing golden eyes accompanied by a soft "boo" echoing through the silence. Then it was over.

Jolting awake from one of his many daily naps, Sandy looked around wildly, waiting to see the eyes that had just haunted his dream peering at him from some dark corner or crevice but there was nothing. The absence scared him almost more than if there had been a presence and as Sandy tried to calm his frazzled nerves, a haunting realization dawned on him. He, the Sandman, bringer of dreams, had just had a nightmare. A nightmare full of darkness, of fear, of pain. Shaking his head vigorously, Sandy created for himself a manta ray and began the journey to the North Pole. He hoped that the presence of a sea creature, even one that he'd conjured up, would calm him as it so often did, for fear, just as it was for every Guardian, was his enemy.

The journey to the North Pole was uneventful, peaceful even, and Sandy found it easier to relax the closer he got to North's workshop. He wouldn't let his guard down completely, not for a second, but the relaxation of the flight was good for him after such a nightmare. As some of the yetis saw Sandy approaching, they opened a window for him to fly through, and he gave them a thumbs up in thanks. Upon landing and allowing his manta ray to dissipate, Sandy located North. The large Russian was in his office creating a new toy concept out of ice as he often did and Sandy had to put himself directly in North's line of site before he was noticed.

"Oh, Sandy! Why didn't you say something, old friend?" North greeted, smiling in amusement at the long-running joke of asking Sandy why he hadn't said something. Sandy never complained and North thought the jokes were funny so they'd been going on for quite some time. As he stood to give his friend a proper greeting, North noticed that Sandy didn't look very good. The Sandman always looked sleepy, whether from the fact that his job almost never ended or from the effects of his sleep-sand, North was unsure, but this time, he looked extra run-down. "You don't look very good, Sandy." North said, concern lacing his voice as he stepped up to the shorter Guardian.

Slowly, Sandy began to tell North about his nightmare. He could communicate well enough with his pictures, especially with the other Guardians who had all learned to decipher what the images meant, but if he rushed, his pictures became jumbled and it was harder for them to understand. As he "spoke", North's expression only turned more grim and when he finished, he threw in some question marks, hoping North would have some insight to share with him.

"I think we should call the others." North replied grimly, patting Sandy on the shoulder before turning to leave his office. "If this really was Pitch's doing, we may have another war on our hands." He pulled the switch to turn on the beacon that would call the other Guardians to him. Luckily they were further from any major holidays than they had been the last time so it was unlikely he and Bunny would get distracted by arguing again.

Once the other Guardians had gathered in North's workshop, Sandy told his story again, Tooth translating for Jack when necessary as he still had trouble with Sandy's pictures at times. The expressions all around the room were grim and worried as Sandy finished, meekly putting up a few question marks again. He could already tell the others had come to the same conclusion that he and North had: Pitch Black was back and much sooner than he'd reappeared the last time to boot.

"If Pitch is back, that means the entrance to his hideout will be open again." Jack said slowly, almost not wanting to break the silence. "Why don't I go and check it out?" The others were hesitant but they knew that, aside from Sandy, Jack was the most equipped to deal with Pitch if he really was battle-ready. That considered along with the fact that they certainly weren't sending Sandy since he appeared to be Pitch's target, they agreed reluctantly and Jack was off, riding the wind to where he knew the entrance to Pitch's liar to be.

Up in the sky above the forest, Jack could see the decrepit bedframe through the trees. His blood ran colder than usual and he landed on the ground beside the entrance, readying his staff. The bedframe was about as fitting of a marker to the entrance of the lair of the incarnation of childhood fear could have and it made Jack uncomfortable to have to touch it, but he couldn't exactly get into the hole under the frame without shifting some of the broken boards aside. Once inside, Jack looked around. He was careful to be as quiet as he could be even as he knew that Pitch could be anywhere. The shadows were his domain and the underground lair was his realm and if he didn't want to be found, Jack would never find him.

Making his way slowly to the biggest part of Pitch's lair, the area with the globe, Jack glanced around quickly. The globe was damaged and unlit and the cages that were hanging from the ceiling that had once held Tooth's fairies were rusted and falling apart. It didn't look like Pitch was back, but if he wasn't, the entrance to his lair wouldn't have reappeared. If he was back, he was weak, but if he was weak, he couldn't have given Sandy that nightmare. Annoyed at having more questions than answers, Jack grew bolder and stepped further into the large room. As he got closer to the globe, a flash of movement in his peripheral vision made him spin around and ready his staff for battle.

"Jack Frost. The newest member of the Guardians of Childhood." The voice was undoubtedly female, fairly deep, and so sultry it was practically a seductive purr. The woman who spoke bore such a striking resemblance to Pitch that Jack wasn't entirely sure it wasn't him. "What an egotistical title. As though fear isn't a cornerstone of life let alone childhood." Her skin was grey and her clothes were black and Jack struggled to keep her in his sights as she phased in and out of the shadows. "Not that you and your little group care anything for balance. I mean, four guys and only one chick? Awkward." She chuckled and vanished, causing Jack to panic.

"Who are you!?" He shouted, turning slowly and trying to catch a glimpse of the woman.

"My name is Zeta Rose." The woman was now behind Jack, perched with one leg crossed over the other on top of Pitch's crumbling globe. "That's not what you were hoping to hear though, was it? You were hoping I'd say Pitch Black."

Whipping around, Jack aimed his staff at the woman, ready to fire if she tried anything. "What do you know about Pitch?"

"More than you." Zeta sneered, motioning around at the decaying room. "Enough to know that this is but a sad sliver of the powers he should rightfully be wielding." Calming as quickly as she'd become angry, Zeta smiled and opened her arms. With a dramatic sigh, she began to fall backwards and disappeared into a puff of black smoke before her black bat wings could even touch the globe.

Startled by her sudden action, Jack fired at the where Zeta had been, his ice shattering the globe she had been perched on. He began to spin again, eyes darting around vigilantly. "No one has the right to hold the power Pitch once did." Jack said quietly, fairly certain that Zeta was still around to hear him.

"No one but Manny." The voice came from behind him and Jack spun around, firing at nothing. "No one but Sandy." Again Jack spun around to fire at nothing. "No one but North." Another miss. "No one but Tooth." Another. "No one but Bunny." Jack was becoming extremely frustrated at that point and was determined to hit Zeta the next time she spoke. "No one but you." As Zeta spoke, she wrapped her arms around Jack from behind, gripping his staff and using it to keep him pinned against her.

Eyes widening, Jack began to struggle madly, desperately trying to get away from the shadow woman. "Let me go!" He yelled, trying to get his staff free so he could finally shoot Zeta.

Humming softly, Zeta leaned forward to whisper into Jack's ear. "You're cute, Jack. How old are you?" Her breath was cold on Jack's neck which startled him greatly considering his skin was always chilly to anyone else. He was so startled that he stopped struggling, frozen in place by Zeta. "So long as it's over a few hundred, I think we can overlook actual numbers." Zeta purred, feeling Jack shiver and grinning broadly. "Disgusted or afraid?" She asked softly, knowing it had to be one or the other.

"Cold." It was the first thing that came to Jack's mind. It was the first time since he'd died that he'd ever felt cold. He'd felt warm a few times in the past and it had made him nauseous, since then he'd learned to keep the air around himself comfortable. Comfortable to him often meant cold for others, but Zeta was different. Once he'd stopped moving, he'd noticed it; she was absolutely devoid of any warmth at all. She was like being pressed up against ice. Cold, lifeless ice. It was the most disturbing feeling Jack had ever felt.

"You're Jack Frost, how are you cold?" Zeta asked, her tone amused and her face further from Jack's ear, much to his temporary relief.

"You're cold." Jack clarified, slowly coming out of his trance and resuming his struggling. "You're frigid! What are you!?"

Releasing Jack mid-struggle so he fell forward, Zeta hummed. "I'm many things. It's sort of hard to explain." Before Jack could actually hit the ground, Zeta removed it, causing him to start floating in nothingness. "I'm nothing." Suddenly Jack felt as though he were drowning and being crushed all at once. "But I'm also everything." The feeling faded quickly and Jack managed to turn himself to face Zeta, his eyes wide. "I destroy and I create and I guess most people would call me a goddess." Zeta was floating in front of him, her wings flapping slowly to hold her up, her expression thoughtful. "But I think that's archaic. I prefer master."

"I think monster seems more appropriate." Jack uttered, not bothering to aim his staff at Zeta and instead focusing on staying upright in the nothingness. It was almost like riding wind but without an actual breeze to read, it was an adjustment.

"How rude." Zeta quipped, putting the ground back and smirking as Jack fell on his ass. "Appropriate though, I suppose. I am here to destroy everything you know and love after all." Zeta was sitting with one leg crossed over the other again but this time she was perched on nothing. "Maybe I'll start with Jamie, being a monster and all."

Eyes widening in horror, Jack shot to his feet and immediately began to fire off blasts of ice at Zeta, who simply vanished before they could hit her. "You leave Jamie out of this!" He bellowed, continuing to fire at Zeta whenever she appeared in a new spot despite none of his blasts hitting their mark.

"Maybe you're right." Zeta mused, seamlessly appearing, disappearing, and reappearing as though she were one with the shadows as much as Pitch was. "Sophie would probably be the better bet. She's still so young, isn't she? After all, what's it been, two, three years since your little group defeated Pitch? She must still have so many childish notions about how the world works."

Letting out a wordless cry of rage, Jack slammed the bottom of his staff onto the ground, causing a shockwave to blast outwards. He was sure he'd managed to hit Zeta that time, but as he spun around, eyes searching every dark corner and shadow, he didn't see her. "Show yourself, you coward!" Jack screamed, feeling more anger than he'd ever felt in his life. When there was still no answer, Jack began to calm down but then every part of his mind went into panic mode. "Jamie!"

Flying out of the lair with speed he didn't know he possessed, Jack harnessed the strongest gust he could and shot like a rocket to Jamie's home. He slowed on arrival, feeling only very mild relief upon seeing that it looked untouched and peaceful. Perhaps Zeta had been bluffing? Peering in through the window to Jamie's room, Jack frowned when he didn't see Jamie. He tried the window to Sophie's room but didn't see her either. Back in panic mode, Jack checked every window and saw that the house was void of life. Maybe they were just out? Torn from his hopeful thought by a dark chuckle, Jack looked up and saw Zeta floating above him.

"Looking for someone?" She asked in mock innocence. "I think I saw the family that lives here leave a few minutes ago." Zeta placed her finger to chin in mock thought, tapping a few times while Jack's fury built. "They left a message for you though. Oh, what was it?" Snapping her fingers as a look of mock realization dawned on her face, Zeta produced a purple orb from nowhere and tossed it to Jack. He flew back several feet but the orb floated in front of him, going foggy with black smoke before it cleared to reveal the Bennett family huddled together in a small, dark room. They appeared unharmed but frightened, their mother hugging Jamie and Sophie, who was crying quietly. "Now I remember! They said they won't be back anytime soon."

Rage draining from him so suddenly it caused Jack to land on the roof of the Bennett house, the winter spirit looked up at Zeta. "Why are you doing this? What do you want?" Jack asked softly, his voice defeated and his face solemn. He couldn't fight Zeta and yelling had only caused Jamie and his family to suffer; Jack was finally ready to shut up and listen, maybe even to negotiate if he could.

Smiling triumphantly, Zeta floated down to land in front of the slumped Jack Frost. "I mostly came here for Pitch Black but then I saw an opportunity to mess with the beloved Guardians." She reached out and cupped Jack's chin in her frigid hand. "I'm going to get revenge on all of them as a present to Pitch but I never planned on including you."

"Why not?" Jack asked, morbidly curious. "I helped them defeat him."

"You practically sealed his fate yourself." Zeta corrected, letting Jack's chin go. "But I like you. Where Pitch had failed, I hoped to succeed in tempting you onto the dark side."

Letting out a mirthless laugh, Jack glared at Zeta. "By kidnapping and threatening my friends? You're not very good at making a case for yourself."

Pleased that Jack still had some spite left, Zeta smiled. "By showing you what I'm capable of. You can't save the Guardians from me, no one can. They're going to suffer and there's no stopping it. The Bennetts, on the other hand, don't have to. And neither do you."

"Why are you telling me all this? What makes you think I won't tell the others?"

Laughing, Zeta put her hands on her hips, looking offended but in a playful way. "Really? Do you think I'm an idiot? I know you're going to tell them, that was the whole point of showing myself to you."

"Then why tell me?" Jack repeated, even more confused.

"So the Guardians can prepare. I want them to fight me at their strongest and lose. The opposition giving all they've got and still losing is excellent at cultivating a feeling of hopelessness."

"And if I don't tell them about you?" Jack asked challengingly, slowly regaining his fight.

"Then you're leading your friends into an ambush. Which is fucked up, but I'm not complaining. I like a good challenge but an easy fight is still a fight won." Zeta replied uncaringly, giving a shrug of her shoulders. "Before you make any decisions though, I'm going to give you some time to think. I'll be monitoring you and the moment you tell them about me, the war begins, but as long as you're quiet, the war is cold. The longer you wait though, the worse the nightmares will get and the more of you they'll affect."

Gritting his teeth, Jack bit back the insult on his tongue, reminding himself that the Bennetts were at the mercy of Zeta's temper. He wanted so badly to shout every swear word he could think of at her and shoot her in the face with the sharpest icicle he could conjure, but he managed to fight the urge down, allowing Zeta to continue to speak uninterrupted. While he managed to keep himself from picking another fight with Zeta, he could not however keep himself from glaring daggers at her. It seemed to amuse Zeta, as she her almost constant grin grew wider when she noticed, and that just fueled Jack's rage and darkened his gaze.

"If you manage to hold out for a month, the nightmares will be at their worst and they'll be affecting everyone. Excluding you, of course." Zeta continued, absently taking the blank purple orb from the sky and toying with it as she spoke. "When you do tell them, I'll assume you're on my side if you can just stay out of the fight."

"Why would I be on your side?" Jack snapped, sickened by the thought.

"Because if you're not, you're on the losing side. If that's not a good enough reason, then maybe we can discuss why you're so against the darkness somewhere more comfortable." The orb in Zeta's hands morphed into a business card that she then held out to Jack. "Feel free to come see me and we can chit chat till your heart's content, but for now, I need to get going."

"What about the Bennetts?" Jack asked, refusing to take the card.

"Right as rain." Zeta replied, hand and card still outstretched. "A sign of good will, if you will."

Tentatively taking the card, Jack looked it over. "How do I know you--" Jack looked up only to notice Zeta was gone and his voice died on his lips. Frowning, he flew down and peeked into the window of Jamie's bedroom, seeing that he was fast asleep. Feeling relief for the first time that day, Jack checked the rest of the house to see the rest of the Bennetts were safe and sound, all of them napping. Hopefully they would think what happened was a bad dream, or better yet, wouldn't remember.

Unable to stick around to find out, Jack began the long trip back to the North Pole. He had alot to think about and the long trip was actually very helpful, even if he felt like someone was watching him for the entire fly. Jack decided he wasn't going to tell the others just yet, not until he got more information about Zeta and her plan. She seemed unstoppable, but he didn't plan on giving up hope. Zeta was strong, but he was certain that together, they would be able to defeat her just as they had Pitch.


	2. Chapter 2

When Jack finally arrived at the Pole, the others were nervously watching the globe. "Bad news." He announced, landing before them with a grim expression that matched everyone else's. "Pitch's hide-out is back but I couldn't find him."

"Fantastic!" Bunny exclaimed, briskly pacing away from the group in frustration.

Gently tugging on Tooth's hand to get her attention, Sandy created an image of one of her fairies above his head.

"You think he'd try that again?" Tooth asked anxiously, the fairies who had come along pulling closer to her in fear.

"He might." North said, already getting his coat and swords. "You're away from your realm, after all. If he's trying the same plan again, we're falling for it."

Tapping the ground twice, Bunny shot North a warning look. "I'll meet you there." He said pointedly, very obviously not planning on riding in North's sleigh again.

"I think I'm gonna go check on Jamie." Jack said quietly, trying hard to remain neutral as everyone looked at him. "He helped us alot last time, I wouldn't be surprised if Pitch decided to target him."

"Fine by me." Bunny responded, jumping into his tunnel and disappearing.

"Alright." North agreed, gripping Jack's shoulder firmly. "But be careful, Jack."

Giving a nod, Jack put on his most convincing grin. "Don't worry about me, I can handle Pitch." With that, they departed; North, Tooth, and Sandy heading for Tooth Palace and Jack riding the wind to the address on the business card Zeta had given him. He needed to know what was going on before he could risk starting a war by telling the others about Zeta. If he was lucky, he could get her plan out of her and then bring it to the others so they could prepare properly.

The fly to Zeta's house took Jack to some snow-capped mountains in the middle of nowhere. If Jack hadn't have known the area already, he might not have been able to find it. As we walked up to the doors of the large house tucked into the mountain-side, he looked to his left to see the crevice he'd been thrown into when Pitch had broken his staff. Pushing back the bittersweet memories, Jack went to knock on the double doors only to have them open as soon as he raised his fist.

"That was a good lie, Jack." Zeta greeted, stepping aside so the winter spirit could enter her home.

Ignoring Zeta's compliment, Jack stepped inside. He was expecting some sort of ambush but as Zeta stepped in front of him and began to ramble about the location of her house, he was beginning to think an ambush was less and less likely. Zeta led him into a cozy sitting room where Jack saw the biggest dog he'd ever seen in his life sleeping curled up in front of a lit fireplace. The dog was the size of a truck and immediately sprung to it's paws upon seeing Zeta.

Sitting on an indigo couch, Zeta motioned to the armchair opposite her and watched as Jack sat down. "Tea?" She asked, pouring herself a glass and looking up to see Jack shake his head. "You're awfully quiet. Earlier today I couldn't get you to shut up." Zeta commented, stroking the dog's head as he laid on the floor in front of the couch and set it in her lap.

"I guess I'm more willing to be quiet and listen than I was earlier today." Jack admitted, still on edge in Zeta's presence despite the casual air about her.

"Fair enough." Zeta sipped her tea and watched as Jack's eyes idly wandered her sitting room. They never left her for long even as they wandered and she could tell he was terribly paranoid. "When I extended this invitation to you, it was under the pretense that you tell me why you're so against siding with me." Zeta reminded the antsy winter spirit sitting across from her.

"Because you're bad." Jack answered without really thinking, his eyes resting on Zeta.

"Am I? You don't really know me." Zeta countered, voice calm and unoffended despite the accusation.

"You threatened the Bennetts." Jack countered right back, breathing deep so his anger wouldn't get away from him.

"You wouldn't listen to me." Zeta said, a small smile playing her black lips. "And you were being very rude."

Unsure if Zeta was serious or simply trying to get a rise out of him, Jack didn't respond right away, opting instead to stare at Zeta incredulously for a moment. "You brought back someone who could destroy this world. I was angry." He said after the moment passed, still having to be careful to watch his tone.

"Ah, but that's where you're wrong, Jack." Zeta sighed, shifting so she could cross one leg over the other, her massive dog having to move his head. "I brought back a man who was wronged by you and the other guardians. I brought back a man who has just as much of a right to guard childhood as any of you. I brought back a man who, after some gentle explaining, understands that trying to go it alone is a stupid idea and is willing to accept a shared role in the grand scheme of childhood."

Not believing a word of it, Jack crossed his arms. "Right." He said sarcastically, bristling when a familiar laugh echoed from the dark corners of the dimly lit room.

"I told you he wouldn't believe you." Pitch said airily, coming out of the shadows behind Zeta and laying his upper half against the back of the couch, arms folded beside Zeta's head.

"Indeed." Zeta agreed, tilting her head slightly. "Of course he hasn't see how much you've changed."

"Changed!?" Jack finally shouted, standing and barely registering Zeta's massive dog watching him with narrowed golden eyes. "He gave Sandy that nightmare! He's still obsessed with fear! He hasn't changed!" Jack looked from Pitch to Zeta and his anger was briefly overridden by confusion. They were both smiling like they were sharing some inside joke that Jack had reminded them of. "What!?" He snapped, for the first time in his life, not in the mood for any games.

"I didn't cause that nightmare." Pitch said, eyes drifting down to Zeta.

"Surprise." Zeta said softly, grinning at the confused look on Jack's face. "Pitch doesn't have enough power to cause nightmares yet. Manny is keeping his powers from him."

Falling back to his seat, Jack looked between Zeta and Pitch again. "But that doesn't change anything." He said slowly, realization overtaking confusion on his face. "You're both still bad."

Sighing, Zeta stood and was looming over the winter spirit before he could even register that she'd stood. "Time to be quiet and listen again, Jack." She said softly, pausing to see if Jack was going to disobey her. He didn't. "Pitch no longer desires to cause nightmares for the sake of gaining power, he desires to do it because it's part of who he is as a Guardian." Jack opened his mouth and Zeta put her hands on the arm of the chair and leaned in closer, effectively silencing him before he could even utter a syllable.

"Once upon a time, you weren't considered a Guardian either, so don't even say Pitch isn't a Guardian." Zeta countered Jack's unmade argument, powerful green eyes boring into Jack's light blue ones. "Fear is as much a part of childhood as fun. Fear helps children make sense of the world around them until they aren't children anymore and can understand. Fear is a tool. Far better to have such a tool in the capable hands of someone who knows how to wield it than to let it go unchecked." Zeta leaned back a bit, hands still on the chair Jack was sitting in.

"Pitch is going to come back to power with or without your support. With or without the support of the other Guardians. I'm not asking you to like it, I'm not asking you to like Pitch, I'm asking to stay out of my way if nothing else. If anymore than that, I'm asking you to help me make the other Guardians understand how inevitable all of this is when the time comes so I don't have to kill and replace them." Zeta's voice was calm though her eyes burned with a passion that resonated in an unexplainable way with Jack deep in his heart. "Are you with me or are you against me?" She finished, backing off and looking down at Jack expectantly.

Once again, Jack looked from Zeta to Pitch and back again, considered what he'd just been told, and knew that there was only one thing that he could say. "I'm with you." He said quietly, still feeling unsure but knowing that it was the right thing to do. The others would never listen to Zeta but maybe they would listen to the both of them. Jack had to try, he wouldn't be able to live with himself knowing what he did if they didn't listen and wound up dead because of their pride.

Having checked on Tooth Palace, the Warrens, Sandy's Dreamscape, and back on the North Pole, the other guardians had found that Pitch was nowhere to be seen. Upon arriving back at the North Pole, however, they found the entire workshop to be oddly quiet. North was the first to figure out what was wrong.

"Where are all the yetis?" The large Russian asked, frowning and looking around the abandoned workshop.

"And the elves?" Tooth added, frowning just as deeply as North and feeling very uneasy.

"They're out." Zeta called from nowhere in particular, phasing into existence from a sliver of darkness under a window's ledge. "Having a company picnic out in the frosty wastes, I guess." She watched the Guardians spin around in unison to face her, Bunny with his boomerangs drawn and North brandishing his swords. "Whoa, chill guys." Zeta said calmly, holding up her hands in a non-threatening gesture. "I'm not here to hurt you. Yet."

"Was that a threat?" Bunny demanded, ready to attack at a moment's notice.

"Calm down, Bunny." Jack sighed, stepping into the workshop from an open window. "She just wants to talk to you guys. I think you should listen."

"Normally I wouldn't judge a book by it's cover, Jack, but she looks exactly like Pitch. It's sort of hard to be calm." Tooth cut in, barely able to keep her eyes off of Zeta long enough to speak to Jack.

"Rude." Zeta muttered, going ignored as Jack spoke again.

"I know. But just listen. Please." He asked, glancing at Zeta out of the corner of his eyes and giving his fellow Guardians such a pleading look that it even gave Bunny pause.

"Why don't you just tell us what's going on, Jack?" North questioned, tearing his glare away from Zeta to look at Jack.

"Because that's my job." Zeta cut in cheerfully, gaining everyone's attention once more. "See, I have a bone to pick with you guys, so to speak. A bone that apparently could pass as the male version of myself." She tilted her head a bit as she spoke and then held up a hand to silence Bunny who was about to say something. Most likely something that would kill Zeta's diplomatic mood and launch her straight into war mode. "I'm of the firm belief that Pitch is a Guardian whether you all like it or not and I plan on making that belief a fact. It'd be super swell to not have to beat you all to a bloody pulp to do that, but I'm not opposed either." Zeta finished, unable to keep herself from smiling at the livid air around the Guardians.

"I know it sounds bad, but she's going to do it no matter what. There isn't any stopping her." Jack said, earning the glares of his fellow Guardians for what was an obvious betrayal. "She isn't saying Pitch is going to rule or anything, she just wants to give him equal status to us! Fear is more important than you all realize."

"Listen to yourself!" Bunny shouted, pointing a boomerang at Jack. "You sound like you're off your rock!"

"I know!" Jack shouted back, practically clinging to his staff as though it were a security blanket. "But you don't know what Zeta is capable of! You don't understand what will happen if you don't stand down!"

Easily the most hurt by Jack's betrayal, Sandy had heard enough. He slowly rose from the floor on a cloud of dream sand and in an instant was armed with two whips.

"Right good thinking." Bunny muttered, flinging a boomerang at Jack only to have it caught by Zeta.

"San Frantastic." She breathed, incinerating the boomerang in a flash of blue fire. "I guess that means it's my turn again." Zeta caught Sandy's whip as he lashed out at her and the sand it was made of turned to dust and fell to the floor. The Guardians were shocked but Zeta quickly pulled them from their stupor with two simple words. "Let's dance."

Letting out a battlecry, North charged at Zeta, swinging his swords at her and meeting a clash of metal as Zeta was suddenly wielding swords identical in build to his but different in color. Zeta kicked North in the stomach and he flew into the opposite wall. She then caught the kick Bunny had aimed at her with her now unarmed hands and threw him into Tooth who was rushing towards her. Zeta caught another dream sand whip as it went straight for her head and it turned to dust as well. Sandy continued to conjure whips and did his best to keep Zeta distracted while North got back into the fight.

Standing silently behind Zeta, Jack watched the fight, his heart full of sorrow. He wanted so badly to help his friends, but he knew how it felt to be excluded. Now that he knew how it felt to be a Guardian, a status that Pitch had indeed once held, he couldn't imagine losing it. To become invisible and irrelevant again. Jack steeled his resolve and watched as Zeta easily stood her ground against the other Guardians, never moving from her spot in front of him. Quite suddenly Jack realized that Zeta was protecting him. She could dodge Sandy's whip attacks but that would leave himself in the line of fire so she caught every attack even when fending off another Guardian.

In that moment, Jack felt something inside him shift. He'd known it was there the day he'd chosen to go after his memories instead of being there for the other Guardians during Easter but he'd squashed it down and ignored it. Jack felt an odd darkness within himself. He felt a similar feeling whenever he caused mischief but this feeling was far more intense. Before Jack could really think about his actions or try to reign in the odd feeling, he was blasting Tooth out of the air with a frigid wind.

There was a pause in the room as everyone, even Zeta, turned to Jack in surprise but he didn't give them time to register what had happened, choosing instead to aim his staff at Bunny. That was what it took to bring everyone out of their stupor and now Jack and Zeta worked together to fight the others, Zeta handling Sandy mostly and occasionally keeping anyone from getting too close to Jack when he was busy and Jack blasting back North, Tooth, and Bunny whenever he could get them in his sights. He didn't want to cause them any real harm so he only hit them with frigid wind, knocking them into walls and crashing them into other solid objects.

The fight didn't last much longer once Jack joined in, as Zeta focused on tiring out the Sandman and Jack's blows to the others began to take their tolls. Soon all of the Guardians were on the floor, too exhausted to continue fighting and everyone but Sandy bruised and even a little bloody. Zeta gave Jack a grateful nod and was pleasantly surprised when he actually returned it. Then a new figure entered the workshop-turned-battlefield: Pitch Black.

"My, my. You weren't lying when you said you'd make them listen like you did with me." He observed, looking at the downed Guardians and smiling when Sandy tried to conjure up a weapon only for his sand to fizzle out.

"I haven't quite got to the listening part yet but you won't believe who pitched in to help with the whole "beating them into submission" part." Zeta replied, smiling and tilting her head at Jack.

"Oh?" Pitch asked, quite surprised. "Aren't they still your friends? Aren't Zeta and I still bad?"

"I get it now." Jack replied softly, making eye-contact with Pitch and knowing that the Boogeyman understood what he meant when his expression softened.

Trying very hard not to make a sound high enough to break every window in the North Pole as her boys had their moment, Zeta spun around to face the downed Guardians. "So now that you're all broken, watch and listen." She said, clapping her hands and turning her gaze skywards to the moon. "I want you all to hear this next part." Zeta then cleared her throat and cupped a hand to her mouth. "Hey, Manny!" She called, pausing and cupping the same hand to her ear. Zeta made a show of pouting and then cupped her hand to her mouth again. "Don't be like that, Manny, I just wanna talk!" Zeta called again, once again cupping her ear and then shrugging.

Dropping the act, Zeta looked at the Guardians once more. "Manny holds the same power over all of you that Pitch once held over the world, but I've never heard a peep out of any of you. Not even now. You all got your asses handed to you and he chose to do nothing. Do I hear a single word of criticism? Nope." Zeta turned to look at the moon and then her hands suddenly became alight with blue, purple, and black flames. "I came here as an equalizer." She hissed, bringing her hands together and shooting a ball of fire straight at the moon.

At first the others said nothing, just watching Zeta. The big four didn't think anything would happen but Pitch and Jack knew better and simply waited quietly. After a bit, the moon's glow turned faintly blue, then purple, and finally black before turning to dust right before everyone's eyes. There was silence at first and then North, Bunny, and Tooth all screamed, all three of them and Sandy wanting desperately to hurt Zeta but none of them having the energy.

Their screams eventually died and before anyone could get out any "you monster"s, Zeta picked up where she left off. "And as an equalizer, I think that both the negative and positive Guardians should have the same amount of power. Welcome to sharing, bitches."

Despite himself, Jack started laughing. He tried to stifle it but it got harder when Pitch joined him, followed shortly by Zeta herself. The other Guardians were too shocked to speak even as the laughter eventually died down. Jack couldn't help but think about how much he'd have appreciated Zeta's intervention back before Manny had chosen him. How much he'd have agreed with her and how much darker he might've been for it. He'd always loved to prank Bunny and pranking humans had become one of very few joys he got in his early years. Now Jack thought that perhaps he was never meant to be as wholesome as he'd gotten around the other Guardians, maybe fun didn't need to be so innocent just because he had the title of Guardian. Maybe he was always meant to be a little dark.


	3. Epilogue

Things had become very different in the world since Zeta brought every immortal spirit to Guardian status. She had created other categories of Guardian as well so now there was no longer only Guardians of Childhood but Guardians for all stages of a mortal's life. Unlike with most worlds where Zeta took over, their world was not plunged into a perma-fall, allowing seasonal Guardians to continue to exist, which included Jack Frost.

At first the old Guardians refused to accept the new but eventually it became evident that their stubbornness wasn't going to get them anywhere so they slowly got over it. Jack was shunned for quite some time after Zeta initially took over but found solace in Pitch and the new Guardians who liked the new world order. Eventually that too ended and the big four found it in themselves to forgive Jack and accept Pitch as well.

Zeta herself hadn't stuck around for the adjustment, having left shortly after replacing the moon and confirming that the powers Manny had kept from the immortal spirits had indeed been released and distributed properly. She was always watching, however, and was quite pleased when Jack was once again accepted by his friends and even more pleased when Pitch was included. Zeta only felt the need to check in occasionally and otherwise let the Guardians govern themselves.

After Zeta's takeover and Jack's switch from good to grey, the need to distinguish "good" Guardians from "bad" Guardians became lessened and eventually archaic. All of the Guardians from simple Weather Creators to more complex Wish Keepers managed to live in peace with eachother despite their differences and no immortal spirit ever had to feel like they weren't important or had to wonder about their role in the grand scheme. Life was different but it was good and, once again as always before, through a cycle of destruction and recreation, another conquest was complete.


End file.
